Vuelta a Espana: Madrazo wins stage 5 summit finish

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Angel Madrazo (Burgos-BH) claimed a dramatic victory on stage 5 of the Vuelta a España when he forged clear of breakaway companions Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH) and José Herrada (Cofidis) in the final kilometre of the Alto de Javalambre.

A little further down the road, the first summit finish of the Vuelta saw Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) move back into the overall lead thanks to his forceful attack with 3km remaining. The Colombian ripped clear of a fragmenting group of favourites to place 4th on the stage, 47 seconds behind Madrazo, to divest Nicolas Roche of the maillot rojo.

World champion Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) delivered solid displays on the 11km ascent and limited their losses on Lopez to 12 seconds, but it was a more trying afternoon for Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott), who each conceded more than 50 seconds to their compatriot on the upper reaches of the climb.

“The beginning of the climb was a bit fast but I always felt good,” Lopez said. “I waited to attack when the leaders were on their own. I went when it was only Roglic and Valverde, to see how they would react and because I like to put on a show when I have the legs to make people enjoy. When I saw I was going solo, I just went all in.”

With seven more summit finishes to come before the finish in Madrid, the plot of this Vuelta remains resolutely unwritten, and there have already been twists aplenty in the opening phase of the race.

Madrazo’s remarkable victory here was a case in point, as his challenge looked on the brink of unravelling for much of the final hour. The Spaniard was almost being knocked off by his own team car with 24km remaining, and he then betrayed immediate signs of suffering once the three escapees hit the base of the final climb with almost 8 minutes in hand on the red jersey group.

Herrada set the tempo most of the way up the ascent, and Madrazo was distanced by his resolute pace-making on no fewer than four occasions, but somehow managed to claw his way back on each occasion. Madrazo’s Burgos-BH teammate Bol played his part, with the Dutchman proving an unnerving presence on Herrada’s rear wheel throughout the climb.

Madrazo looked to have been definitively dropped with a shade under 4km to go, but the 31-year-old remerged within sight of the flamme rouge, and then seized his opportunity with 700 metres to go by making a seated acceleration that carried him clear of a flagging Herrada. Bol sat on the Cofidis man’s wheel until the final 200 metres before unleashing an acceleration of his own to secure a one-two for Burgos-BH.

It was the most important win in the history of a team who secured its second successive Vuelta wildcard despite serving a 21-day suspension at the beginning of this season following a spate of positive tests on the team last year.

“It’s a dream come true. We have suffered throughout the season, the team deserved it. I could not follow the rhythm of Herrada, I had to go slower not to wear myself out,” Madrazo said afterwards. “I wanted to help Jetse, who waited for me. In the sprint I am fast. The team had told me to save myself for tomorrow, but when I caught them I saw that they were weak and I attacked.”

How it unfolded

Madrazo and Bol were on the offensive soon after the start in L'Eliana, forging clear after 11km. The Burgos-BH duo were joined shortly afterwards by Herrada, and this trio was granted considerable leeway by a peloton eager to spare itself for the rigours of the day’s final ascent as the Vuelta crossed by Valencia into Aragon.

Madrazo buttressed his lead in the mountains classification by claiming maximum points atop the Puerto de Alcublas and Alto Fuente de Rubielos, while the Sunweb-led peloton was content to allow the escapees establish a lead of 11 minutes with 30km to go. That buffer began to come down gradually on the rolling run-in to the final ascent, but Madrazo et al still had a winning margin of 8 minutes once the climb began to bite in earnest.

Back in the peloton, Jumbo-Visma and Astana grew ever more prominent as the climb began, with first Robert Gesink and later Sepp Kuss performing notable cameos on behalf of their team leader Roglic. “Yeah, almost too much,” Roglic smiled afterwards when asked about Kuss’ display. “When he went, I was asking maybe we have to slow down a little. It was a really strong performance from the whole team.”

The peloton was whittled down in size on the lower slopes of the climb and the winnowing process continued apace when Hugh Carthy (EF Education First) hit the front on behalf of Rigoberto Uran, but the first major attack would come from Alejandro Valverde, who delivered a stinging acceleration with 4km to go.

Only Roglic, Kuss, Lopez and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) could keep pace with Valverde, while his teammate Quintana struggled a little further behind in the company of Chaves and Roche. Much like at the Tour de France, it was unclear if the Movistar leaders were singing from the same hymn sheet, but the point was perhaps rendered moot when Lopez delivered his rasping attack with 3km to go.

Valverde and Roglic gave chase as best they could, while Pogacar limited his losses in no man’s land behind. Quintana and Chaves continued at their tempo, which ultimately proved too much Roche, though the Irishman still delivered once of his best climbing performances of recent seasons to place 14th at 2:17. That battling display leaves him in 5th overall, 57 seconds down.

Lopez took 4th on the stage, 47 seconds down on Madrazo to regain the red jersey he wore after the opening team time trial, while Valverde outsprinted Roglic for 5th, a further 12 seconds back. Pogacar was the best of the rest, while the remainder of the podium contenders came home in ones and twos a little further behind.

“We’ve only won a few seconds but that’s already something,” Lopez said. “We’re happy with the result and the great work inside the team. There’s a lot of racing left but so far everything is going great for us. There’ll be more differences opening in the next days. The 2019 Vuelta is getting hard.”